1935-1943

Before the Second World War, there were only small private dairies in our country; they were usually integrated into a farm, and their scope of action did not extend much beyond the local area. In 1935, Mr Emile KLENSCH, an agronomist and owner of a large agricultural estate, founded his first dairy in Bettembourg; he named it EKABE, derived from “Emile Klensch A BEttembourg”.

Initially, the milk came solely from his own herd of 100 dairy cows, but gradually other independent milk producers joined him to increase the dairy’s production. In this way, the EKABE dairy managed to process nearly 25,000 litres of milk per day.

1943–1944

During the war, the German occupiers closed the EKABE dairy in Bettembourg and forced Mr KLENSCH to relocate to the east of the country, in a region without dairies and close to the German border; thus, Mr KLENSCH  purchased the former Fritz PASQUAY dairy in the village of Eschweiler.

Faced with the hardships of the war, the operations of the second EKABE Dairy only truly resumed on 10 January 1944.

1944-1967

Milk production increased rapidly, reaching nearly 5 million litres per year. However, it was after the Liberation that the EKABE dairy experienced remarkable growth, largely due to the success of its cheese specialities such as Camembert, Brie, Port Salut, Tilsit, Limbourg etc. Many cheese lovers swore by the EKABE name.

In 1960, while most small village dairies were declining or disappearing, the EKABE dairy was processing around 16 million litres of milk per year. Mr. Emile KLENSCH retired from business in 1967 and handed over the EKABE dairy to his daughter, Mrs. Marthe KIPGEN-KLENSCH. With determination and perseverance, she took up the mantle to continue development of her father’s legacy.

1967–1973

To remain competitive in the face of increasing monopolisation by a growing farmers’ organisation and ever-stronger foreign competition, she decided to build a new dairy, as the old facility no longer offered any possibility for expansion or modernisation.

Work began in 1970 and was completed in 1973 with the official inauguration of the third EKABE dairy taking place on 5 October. It was located on the current site at the entrance to the village of Eschweiler.

From 1973 till today…

In 1977, the EKABE dairy collected nearly 25 million litres of raw milk from 300 Luxembourg producers, using its fleet of 5 tanker lorries.

Today, the fleet of 3 tanker lorries collects twice as much, an average of no less than 50 million litres –  from 90 producers, whose herds vary from 15 cows (for the smallest) to 200 cows (for the largest).

The EKABE dairy processes a total of around 110 million litres of milk (with a maximum annual capacity of 120 million litres). EKABE’s range of products includes culinary creams, thick or liquid, fresh or long-life, fresh fromage blanc, desserts and cooked “Kachkéis” cheeses of various varieties, both plain and flavoured.